Parenting developmentally disabled children will always be a special challenge. It need not be a nightmare. In addition to meeting the usual parenting challenges, parents of disabled children face a gauntlet of added obstacles that can try the resolve and resources of even the strongest families. But navigating the complex
medical, educational, occupational, and social issues can be made easier with the right information.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

When Your Child Won't Let You Tell Him the Truth

Suffice it to say my mother sometimes had a problem with honesty. I hated it and swore I would never lie to my own children. Billy Ray is experiencing some changes that makes it impossible to keep that commitment to myself. For example, he listens to a walkman ALOT and the batteries run out every few days. He used to bring it to me to change them now for some reason he resistent to that task even when it quits working. However, it doesn't work he is irritated too. Before my divorce Larry would sneak in an change the batteries while I was bathing Billy Ray. Now I am getting creative at sneaking the new batteries. Additionally, he has spcific answers to questions he asks and that is the only thing he will accept even if it is no longer true. In order to move on with the day it is necessary to give him the answer he wants. There are countless examples of that lately. As in other things you just have adapt and communicate. Sorry that I have missed all of you for a while. Larry and I are divorced (I will probably share more of that on my personal blog Peggy Lou Morgan in the future), I am working on new writing project, etc., etc. I wanted to welcome some new readers South Korea, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. I am so glad that my books are available to you and that you are finding your way to me and to this blog. Until Next Time, Peggy Lou Morgan www.peggyloumorgan.com (for a complete list of my sites)

2 comments:

Hi Peggy. My name is Steve and I am a caregiver for a couple of special needs adults. Our guys share a house together. We have a staff of caregivers who support Mike and Brad on a 24 hour basis.

Your story about the walkman and the batteries has a similiarity to an issue we are having a hard time with. Brad is developmentally disabled with CP with mild retardation. On top of it all he is epileptic due to a bout with meningitus at three months old, which caused severe damage to one side of his brain.

It is due to the brain damage that Brad is non-verbal and not able to tell us what is ailing him. Suffice it to say, Brad has seen numerous professionals and been in the hospital quite a few times in the past few months. He is having some kind of stomach ailment which the doctors haven't been able to diagnose.

He has been taking a regimen of medications to include anti-convulsives. The problem we are having on top of it all is that Brad is being very combative when we give him medications and during meal times. His refusal has forced us to retrict his movements in order for us to do what is best for him with relation to administering meds and getting him to eat.

I am telling this to you in hopes you might have some insight as to why he is being so combative and what we might be able to do about it all. The last thing we want is to force Brad to do anything, but at the same time we can't just let him wither away . THAT would be even worse in our opinion.